A moon rises in the Blue Mountains

Photo by Justin Proctor

It’s been a while since you last heard from us, but not because we’re lost in the Jamaican wilderness!

We arrived back in Ithaca, NY a week ago, and have been hard at work processing our data, photos, videos, and thoughts from this past trip to the Blue Mountains. In addition, we’ve had to analyze our data from both trips combined, trying to seek out patterns in aerial insectivore sightings and making maps of all our point counts with different species seen in both Cockpit Country and the mountainous eastern portion of the island.

We’re also looking up references to all information on Cave Swallows, Antillean Palm Swifts, and White-collared Swifts in either Jamaica, the Caribbean, or the world, depending on what kind of journal articles have been published about them in the past. Other research we’ve been doing involves Barn Owls and Turkey Vultures, which will be the subject of spin-off papers that we hope to write as well (more information soon!). Although the Ithaca spring weather is a bit shocking to the senses after four weeks in the tropics, we’re acclimating well and hope to have our drafts complete in the coming month.

A male anole displays his dewlap at Holywell in the Blue and John Crow Mountain National Park.

Tomorrow we’ll have the first part of our big gear review up on the blog, to share our impressions and opinions on the utility and comfort of different items we brought on our expeditions.